Photographer's Note

... okay, not really, but for an Englishman everything over 20°C means summer. And hey, did you know that Fehmarn is one of the sunniest and driest places in Germany?!

Once on a bicycle, it is easy to find your way around in Germany. The country is well suited for this type of recreation for the following reasons: much of Germany is flat, river valleys and canals are plentiful, bike routes are signed, and marked hiking paths are everywhere.

In addition to the maps for automobile travel, there are also maps for hiking and biking. They vary in resolutions from 1:125,000 to 1:75,000 and they can be purchased at any bookstore or train station.

And, just in case someone had enough of looking at my black & whites, there's a colour version included in the WS. Please feel free to comment on either, whichever you prefer!

EXCELLENT. Et vive le grand angle!! ;o) Just kidding, this reminds me the strange effects we can get of that lens. I loved at the beginning but soon got tired of the gimmicks. Yet, a great photograph, no nitpicks whatsoever, the tones and brightness are absolutely perfect.

hi robert,
beautiful black&white (i'd rather have the black&white then the colored version, too) - reminds me of an older photo or better said a photo of other times. love the strong and long shadow, the road given eye lead and the white(ish) shapes (clouds or not) on the sky ... mainly all the nicely combined geometrical shapes - well seen!
dora

Who can resist to this splendid view with a wide angle twist! I like the perspective you’ve created with the bicycle path and the line in the sky. The composition is simply great and the position of your subject is photogenic. Light is excellent and so is the shadow.

Great B&W conversion, but I like both version; can’t make up my mind! Your image is a good demonstration of the deutsch flatness.

You’ve made me laugh with your remark about UK temperature... What about here, going from sub zero to +34 within a week, or if you prefer, Antartica to Brazil without leaving your home. I think I prefer England’s weather...

Oh! They have strange bike in Germany! Looooooong.... very loooooooooooong bike! :)))
I know, I know. It's the wide angle effet! Very interesting effect indeed. Not always as interesting as it is with your photos though. Here, it is good. I love the smiling lady with one hand on the handle, the little basket in the front, her sunglasses, and the long shadow in the back. I like a little less two things. The front shadow that comes from nowhere (for us), but that is not so important. What bothers me more is the white face. Looking at the color version, the face is not burnt, just a tiny little overexposed, but nothing irretrievable. So, I wonder what happened. I suspect it is in your process of conversion. Since I don't know how you do your conversion, I cannot really help. But, if you can play with each color, try to play with the orange/red pointer. I think your photo worth it.
Truly enjoyable photo. Would love to see it a bit bigger with less frame...
Claire

Excellent, Robi. I cannot keep up with your marvellous shots, again a tremendous pp and a fantastic visual effect that the wide angle has created--your elongated bike, so exquisitely long! :-)
Forgive my lack of normal comments but am in the middle of packing and sorting things out before moving and working in the meantime... in one word, I long just to hop on a bike and forget about all that!
sasa

The b&w has my preference. Can't explain, more special to me. I like the angle and the shape of the bike changed by that... also the small clouds in the sky are like you ordered them :)
very good !!
greetings, inn

I love the wide angle feel here. Not very usual to see a vertical frame wearing this mood. My sincere congratulations for presenting it the way it is. The burnt face bothers me a bit, but just a bit, as it gives the woman a very eery appearance. The tones of the b&w are so good. Great shot Robert!

This is a very cool image Robert, love that real long stretched out feeling which the wide angle lens gives, and the black and white works a lot better than the colour with this type of scene. Brilliantly done.

Great shot! The close in wide angle gives that distinctive perspective that is so interesting. I was wondering when I saw this if you were also on a bicycle when you took it? Anyways, it's a good shot, and I like the inclusion of the woman's shadow too. Well done!

That's what I call a bike! Probably longer and heavier than a Cadillac. You could put a whole vietnamese family and their belongings on this bike.

The composition and the outstanding tones are really spot on. i have looked at your recent postings you seemed to have found one of Sasa's secrets about image exposure (love that people faces include some glaring parts) and toning.

A classic wide-angle composition here Robi, and I like how you used the shadow to fill the foreground.
It's a dark image, but conversely the woman's face is quite over-exposed - looks almost like a Halloween ghost mask. I think setting some minus exposure compensation would have helped.
This inability of digital to handle bright highlights can be frustrating, and at the moment the only manufacturer who seems to be trying to do anything about it is Fujifilm. I had quite a lot of trouble photographing puffins recently, and in the end I had to set -2 stops of exposure compensation to avoid their white bits burning out.
That's enough of me rambling on. It's a good shot, quite dramatic. A slower shutter speed would have blurred the wheels a bit to give a sense of movement, which may have worked well.

Hi Robi, I missed this one but I'm glad I found it now during a short break at the office in Tokyo. The wide angle making the bike seem like a stretch limo, the play of light and shadows, and not least the whopping and beautiful tonal range of the b&w conversion make this one of your best. Excellent timing and just a fine piece of work all around. Well done.

I Robert
I am slowly coming back to TE,so let's have a look at what you are doing.
So much to look at,all wonderful,But I will stop on this one...
probaby because it is a wideangle shot,
It does help that I just started playing with one of them,a new toy.
I appreciate the way you use it here to create a stunning perspective,that elongates the bike,giving it a smooth ride,almost a chopper.
The wide angle opens the perspective,but you are using it to open more then that,you are creating a whole new world and to me,opening doors to world that I did not know existed.
Something I will surely try very soon.
Have a good day